236 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



Blackberry Blossoms. 



From a thicket In the corner of zig-zag fence 



Where the succulent Pokeberry stalks uprear. 

 With Sassafras and Sumach In a wild growth dense, 

 The Blackberry blossoms through the brown rails 

 peer, 

 With dew drops shining on their long, white sprays, 

 Where the yellow bee buzzes and the redblrd flies. 

 They marvel at the world and its new found ways. 

 With innocent wonder in their wild, sweet eyes. 

 Magnolias are white. 

 And Roses are bright. 

 And many there be that love them; 

 But with dew-besprlnkled faces 

 And wildwood graces. 

 Oh, the Blackberry blossoms are above them. 



When the Pine bows are swinging In the soft May 

 breeze. 

 The bumblebees are boasting of their springtide 

 gain. 

 And the mockbird Is singing out his happiest glees 



To the cotton-tailed rabbit in the bend of the lane; 

 They lean their faces on the moss-grown rails. 



And listen to the melody the mockbird weaves; 

 And the lizzards go a-darting with their trembling 

 tails 

 Like slim long shuttles through the last year's leaves. 

 Chrysanthemums are fair, 

 And Orchids are rare. 

 And many there be that love them; 

 But with dew-bespiinkled faces 

 And wildwood graces. 

 Oh, the Blackberry blossoms are above them. 

 —Samuel Mintur)i Peck. Good Housekeeping. 



The Hollyhock 



On a long and slender stalk 

 Blooms the jaunty Hollyhock, 

 Who so saucy, who so tall, 

 Peeping o'er the garden wail? 

 Rosy red and softest whlt«; 

 Sunshine is its keen delight; 

 In broad daylight him you see. 

 Kissing butterfly and bee: 

 Hale and hearty on his stalk 

 .Sways and smiles the Hollyhock. 



Bepair the plant-houses ! 

 Mulching keeps the soil cool. 

 The Grape crop promises well. 

 Ivy cuttings will root well now in shade, 

 Stakes to the Ohrysaothemums and fine Asters. 

 Most flowers are thirsty creatures this month. 

 August will do for transplanting Evergreens. 

 Young shoots of Lilac root readily now in a 

 close frame. 



Liquid manure is both food and drink, ac- 

 ceptable to plants. 

 In Bosa rubifolia the leaves and bark are of a 



pleasing reddish color. 



Ivy-leaved Oeraniums are ideal plants for 

 the well-kept hanging basket. 



This is (he month to divide and reset the little 

 double Daisies Bellti ixrennis. 



Among Strawberries, Sbarpless, Jessie, Bubach 

 and Oandy are the best— E. D. F., Md. 



Flower beds are to please the eye ; but they 

 will fail in this so long as weeds show in them. 



Cannot you see the insect that does the mis- 

 chief '/ It may be a night feeder; watch for it by 

 candle light. 



Spread it Out. Nasturtiums are not so pleas- 

 ant when the growth is allowed to form in 

 heavy masses. 



Mr. B. S. Williams the fsraous English nur- 

 seryman and author died on June 27th, in the 

 fJTth year of his age. 



The Saxony Government last year realized 

 $3.'),480 profits from the sale of fruit that was 

 raised in the highways. 



Our Rose bed has been remarkably free of in- 

 sects. The soil is good; the culture has been 

 good. Weak plants always suffer most. 



Bnhach is the sovereign remedy for Cabbage 

 worms ; but if you have nothing else at hand, 

 throw a handful of road dust into the crown of 

 each plant. ] 



A "Fruit and Berry Picker," made of metal 

 and shaped like a thumb nail and somewhat serv- 

 ing the same purpose in pinching off the stems 

 when gathering fruit and flowers, is offered, by 

 a Philadelphia, Pa. concern. 



Moles in Garden. I bad been much troubled 

 until I fell upon the following simple remedy : I 

 scattered sawdust soaked in paraffine and tar in 

 their runs, near where they entered the garden. 

 They have not troubled me since.— C. J. Rrntse. 



Our large Bubach Strawberry, illustrated in 

 June issue, has served to bring us reports 

 accompanied with pictures of still larger berries, 

 of Belmont, Bubach, etc. Of course we did not 

 claim that we had produced the largest of all 

 these monstrosities. 



Money In Nut Trees Two hundred Hickory 

 nut trees, and three hundred Walnut and Butter 

 nut trees yield more money to a citizen of Michi- 

 gan than can be made by any farmer by culti- 

 vating three hundred acres of land. At least 

 this is what Mr. B. Hathaway claims. 



The Gypsy Moth, it is to hoped, will not make 

 much headway against the vigorous war waged 

 against it in the east. Scraping the trees, burn- 

 ing the rubbish, and spraying the foliage have 

 been the weapons employed with energy and 

 perseverance, even at considerable expense to 

 the people. 



The Common Hop is anything but a bad orna- 

 mental climber. The writer of this visited a 

 neighbor recently who grows many choice clim- 

 bers, and who pointed with pride to a Hop vine 

 that had made a growth of nearly 30 feet this 

 season, a perfect " rope " of dark green hand- 

 some foliage. 



Shame on the people who let their boys and 

 girls go away from home for a botton-hole 

 bouquet, or for.flowers for any use during sum- 

 mer and autumn when a profusion of showy 

 flowers might be had right at their own door, 

 with little effort, by simply cultivating a few 

 nice annuals. 



The Mimulus, one of the prettiest of Cali- 

 fornia's wild flowers, is found there in several 

 varieties. One of these grows to be quite a hard- 

 W(ioded shrub, and sometimes the mountain sides 

 are literally ablaze with these pretty, buff-color- 

 ed flowers, which are borne on numerous spikes, 

 and form very large heads. 



Lilium auratum. Every season's experience 

 convinces me that it is wet during winter and 

 not cold which destroys the bulbs of this magni- 

 ficent species. This next planting season we 

 hope to plant some roots on the sunny side of a 

 Privet hedge where the roots of the Privet keep 

 the earth dry.— May Wade, Monroe Co., N. Y. 



Bussian Apricots, common and named varie- 

 ties, are not so hardy in bud as the Peach ; but 

 as they do not bloom any earlier than the Peach, 

 would not be injured one year in ten by late 

 frosts. The trees, however, are tender. I had one 

 three inches in diameter killed this Spring by a 

 frost that did not injure Peaches.— C. K. Meyer, 

 Tazewell Co., lUs. 



Porcelain fruits, vegetable, pickles, etc, 

 colored to closely resemble the natural product, 

 are suggested for use with advantage in gro- 

 ceries and fruit stores to deceive the pilferer. 

 This tree sampling is often carried on to an un- 

 reasonable degree, and is annoying to the dealer, 

 and indirectly damaging the fruit growers. Let 

 the pilferer get hold of the porcelain imitation, 

 once or twice, and it will be apt to cure him. 



True Beauty. When you say a flower bed or 

 plan of a flower garden or lawn is beautiful 

 think twice about it. Is it beautiful'i' Ifso.vou 

 can say why. If you decide at last that you are 

 mistaken, that it is only a monstrosity or 

 vagary then you will have learned something. 

 Much ot the fancy garden work is unnatural and 

 corrupting to good taste. As a rule you will 

 flnd that a real lover of nature has no pattern 

 bed on his lawns, and no sheared evergreens.— 

 K. P. PoweU. 



A Live Oak near Charleston, S. C, is con- 

 sidered to be one of the most perfect trees in this 

 country. The trunk Ave feet from the ground 

 has a circumference of twenty-five feet, and 

 the main branches, shooting out at right angles 

 from the trunk at the height of ten feet above 

 the ground, have a spread of about one hundred 

 and twcnty-flve feet, forming a dense, symmet- 

 rical, flat head of indescribable beauty. This 

 tree may be found behind the old Drayton 

 Manorhouse on the Ashley river. 



Chrysanthemum Tarietiea. Among distinct 

 varieties well worth growing, Mr. H.W. Hales 

 names the following: Elaine, pure white; Venus, 

 light lilac; Golden Beverly, bright yellow; Tim- 

 bal d' Argent, white anemone-flowered ; Juvena, 

 dark maroon ; Mad. Andiguier, clear pink, very 

 fine ;Koseum, bright rose ; Souce d' Or, deep 

 yellow ; Lakme, light bronze ; Golden Dragon, 

 Japanese yellow; Snowstorm, pale lemon chang- 

 ing to pure white; Red Dragon, dark red : Nym- 

 phsea, pure white sweet scented. 



The Fyrethrnms. This interesting class of 

 plants is not only useful for the manufacture of 

 insect powders, but also furnishes us very beauti- 

 ful flowers. In Europe they are classed among 

 the most desirable of easily grown hardy yier- 

 ennials. P.carncnm audits varieties have large 

 and fine flowers resembling white, pink and rose 

 Asters. The P. Parthenium is the well-known 

 Feverfew of our gardens. The Golden Feather, 

 so much used for flower border, is a sport from 

 this latter species. All of the varieties and 

 species are easily grown from seed or by division 

 of the roots. 



Screens for Boses. Did your readers ever try 

 the experiment of covering young Eoses in the 

 spring with cone of wire fly-netting, from old 

 useless screens ■/ With me it seems to develop 

 them much more rapidly, protecting them from 

 sun at mid-day, and from insects and grubs, till 

 their growth is much matured. Roses from two 

 inch pots are hard to save in the open ground 

 without some such protection. I also drive um- 

 brella wires into bits of wood and use them as 

 incuonspicous support for many weak plants In- 

 stead of the more common wood stakes.— 0. L. 

 Church, Bristol Cn. R. I. 



Calceolarias from Seed. The value of these as 

 winter and early spring pot plants should be well 

 known, as they last a long time in bloom and can 

 be easily grown I sow the seeds in August, in 

 pans filled with a mixture ot loam, leaf-mould, 

 and silver sand ; water previous to sowing, 

 cover the seeds very slightly, place in a cool 

 frame j when large enough pick out into boxes, 

 and when they have grown to sufficient size put 

 into 3 inch pots and keep in a temperature of 

 45° to 50° close to the glass. When well pot- 

 bound repot into five inch pots. Give plenty of 

 air, never allowing them to get dry. Good 

 plants can be grown by any careful grower. A 

 good strain of seed is of course essential. —D.Roj/. 



Destroying Weeds in the Lawn. I have tried 

 several methods of clearing our lawn of Dan- 

 delion, Dock, etc, and flnd that nothing is so 

 effectual in totally destroying them as a small 

 quantity of turpentine poured upon them. I 

 had dug these weeds out quite clean, but they 

 came up again stronger thau before. I then ex- 

 perimented by applying carbolic acid, kerosene 

 and turpentine. Kerosene had little effect upon 

 them, while the acid and turpentine destroyed 

 them outright. As turpentine is much the 

 cheaper of the two, it was given the preference, 

 and I am now using it upon all hard-killing 

 weeds as soon as discovered, and am well pleased 

 with the results. A teaspoonful of turpentine is 

 sufficient to destroy almost any weed.— Joftii F. 

 Hupp, Pa. 



Blumenbachia coronata, shown in illustration 

 re-engraved from Gardeiung Illustrated, is a 



Plant of Blumenbaehia in Flower. 



prett.v hardy annual, native of Chili. Its flowers 

 are showy, the foliage elegant, and the growth 

 dwai'f and compact. The structure of the 

 flowers is somewhat singular. The boat-shaped 

 petals and the peculiar small scales between 

 them, together with the brush-like bundle of 

 stamens, render the blossoms very attractive. 

 It may be grown from seed, preferably sown in 

 spring, and treated as a hardy annual. It con- 

 tinues to flower from July to September if 

 grown in warm light soils. Other cultivated 

 species of Blumenbachia, natives of the southern 



